Monster Gaming Weekly

Sep 122019

DreamHack Montreal and the Berlin Major in CS:GO took place last week and EG, Na`Vi, and TL all put on some great performances and had some must watch games for anyone interested in CS:GO, Melee, or Siege. Hbox walked out of Montreal with yet another first place finish, while TL and EG’s R6 teams also performed incredibly well in Montreal. The action doesn’t stop there though as we ramp up into Worlds in League of Legends in early October along with the next DPC Season in Dota 2. There’s truly never a dull moment for any of the teams in the Monster family.

Rainbow 6 Siege - DreamHack Montreal

DreamHack Montreal 2019 is a wrap, and what better grand finals could we ask for than Liquid versus TSM. Coming off of fresh success in Brasileirão, Liquid rode their momentum through the lower stages of the tournament, all the way to the finale. Their opponent of TSM, made it work through a combination of grit, hard work, and a little bit of luck. And unfortunately, luck had been sparse for the boys of Team SoloMid of recent, and their visit to the grand finals would be the first bit of major success in ages.

Team Liquid’s road to the finals forced them to perform upset after upset as first they took on G2 in the group stage. G2 is thought of as one of the strongest teams in the world, if not the stronger, but TL took them down 2-1, even beating them on Kafe 7-0 which is pretty much unheard of for the side of G2. Liquid cleaned up their group and were looking strong going into the playoff stage.

In Group B a newly changed EG roster was out to prove that even with very little time to become accustomed to each other they were still one of the best teams in the world. While they lost to Dark Zero in groups, nearly 2-0ing them but dropping the second map 8-7 in a rough OT loss, EG easily swept through Fb 7-1 and 7-4 to clinch a playoff spot of their own. Both TL and EG won their first match which then pit them against each other in the semi-finals. Unfortunately the fact that EG had not been able to practice together as a team for too long caught up to them and Team Liquid came out on top after a somewhat one sided match.

In the finals Team Liquid faced off against TSM and the first map came down to a tie-breaker in which it looked like Liquid had everything they needed to win. Unfortunately TSM managed to land some incredible shots and while TL came back with a vengeance on the second map, TSM took the finals 2-1 and became the DreamHack Montreal champions.

Team Liquid, EG, and many others will look forward to the upcoming return of the Rainbow Six Pro League, as a steady stream of R6 action keeps both pundits and fans entertained.

Super Smash Bros. Melee - DreamHack Montreal

This weekend, Hungrybox travelled up to Montreal, Canada to challenge the best Melee players there at Dreamhack Montreal. While some Dreamhack tournaments are stacked, this one didn’t have many top players. Though, it did have the prestige and production of a Dreamhack event, which brought out competitors like moky, Ryan Ford, HugS, n0ne, and Hungrybox.

In truth, it was a smart tournament for Hungrybox to enter because the bracket looked very good for him. HugS and n0ne play Samus and Captain Falcon respectively, matches that Puff can normally win without too much trouble and that Hbox often wins without breaking a sweat. According to Liquipedia’s head-to-head counter, Hungrybox is 10-0 against HugS and 13-0 against n0ne. Hbox would likely have to contend with at least one top Fox - Ryan Ford or moky, but Hungrybox knows the Fox matchup well.

So Hungrybox went into the tournament the heavy favorite, expected to clean house. Clean house he did. Hungrybox rinsed the rest of the bracket, not only never dropping to into the Losers Bracket but never even getting close to it. He lost one game the entire tournament. His main competitors were moky and n0ne. Though he faced n0ne twice, once in the Semi-Final and once in the Grand Final, it was moky that gave him the most trouble.

Moky started off pretty hot in their set but gave up two stocks to failing ledge dashes. Moky bounced right back and gave Hbox his one loss on Pokemon Stadium in a close match where moky actually managed to edgeguard Puff using Fox’s Shine. Moky is one of Melee’s rising stars and a Fox main that recently beat Melee, so he’s not a player to be slept on. However, he is a player to be rested on, and Hungrybox took the set back by three stocking moky back to back on Dreamland and Yoshi’s Island.

From there, Hungrybox cleaned house by dismantling n0ne. While n0ne is a great player and one of the best Falcon mains in the world, his playstyle of relentless, flashy aggression doesn’t stand up to Hungrybox’s patient defense. Though n0ne brought it close on Pokemon Stadium, Hungrybox 3-0’d him in Grand Finals and Semi-Finals. Hbox won against two young talents who often upset the Melee greats and he made it look it easy.

CS:GO - The Berlin Major

This past weekend, Astralis took victory at the highest tiered event that Counter-Strike has to offer. Ending their early opposition in Team Liquid, who are currently ranked the best amongst the rest of the world, Astralis advanced to the Major Finals to face off against AVANGAR.

On the unfortunate side of the tournament results, sat Liquid and Na’Vi. Both teams failed to seize opportunities that lead to higher playoff finishes, and in Liquid’s case, left fans in question. Though Liquid previously seemed to have a grip over Astralis during a dominant string of 2019 victories, a quarter finals loss to the danes once again reminded people of why the rivalry is so heated.

From the beginning of the Legends stages, Liquid struggled with consistency. Though a first round victory over CR4ZY did spark some excitement, TL floated in and out of contention as they made their way through the swiss group stage for the first four rounds. Though they did enter the playoffs with two wins, and a fair bit of momentum behind them, they met their match against Astralis during the quarterfinals. A tough to swallow defeat on Vertigo, and a nail biter loss on Overpass sent the North American champions home. Na’Vi found themselves in a very similar situation. An inconsistent legends stage threatened their future playoffs attempt, and when their opportunity came in the quarterfinals, sadly NRG came out as the victors after an overtime loss on Mirage.

ESL New York, which runs during the final weekend of September, could be a way into redemption for the boys of Liquid and Na’Vi, and never disappoints to be a must watch premier tournament for the year. Neither team will be happy with their results at the Major but Team Liquid is no stranger to setbacks and Na`Vi’s young talent are among the best in the world. It’s only a matter of time before we see both teams find their way back into the finals of a tournament.